The war in Ukraine is preparing to cross a new threshold with the direct involvement of a third country, North Korea, raising fears of an unprecedented escalation since the Russian invasion in February 2022. The southern national intelligence service -Korean (NIS) announced, Friday October 18, that Pyongyang had decided to send “important troops” to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine. A total of 12,000 North Korean troops from four brigades, including special forces, are expected to be deployed.
Read also | Live, war in Ukraine: a new exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine
Add to your selections
According to the NIS, 1,500 soldiers arrived in Russia, transported “by Russian warships between October 8 and 13”. They would be distributed to military bases in the Far East, in Vladivostok, Ussuriysk, Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk, and should join the front lines at the end of their training. The NIS released detailed satellite images it said showed the first of these deployments. A second round of transfers should take place soon, the service says.
The day before, Volodymyr Zelensky had reported corroborating information from the Ukrainian intelligence services. “We have information indicating that North Korea has sent tactical personnel and officers to Ukraine, to temporarily occupied territories, and that they are preparing 10,000 troops on their soil, but have not yet deployed them in Ukraine or Russia »declared the Ukrainian president on Thursday at NATO headquarters in Brussels, after a European summit where he came to defend his “plan for victory”. “This is the first step towards a world war”he warned. Russia denounced « fake news ».
Concern of Westerners
The head of Ukrainian military intelligence, General Kyrylo Boudanov, clarified on Friday that the 10,000 North Korean soldiers currently training in Russia, “will be ready for combat operations from 1is November ». “They will use Russian equipment and ammunition, he added. Some 2,600 first North Korean troops will be sent to the Kursk region »where Ukrainian troops occupy about 1,000 km2 since their offensive on August 6. Mr. Boudanov said he did not know, at this stage, where the thousands of others would be deployed. North Koreans are already believed to be present in the occupied part of Ukraine, Donbass. According to Ukrainian media, six of them were killed in a Ukrainian missile attack near Donetsk on October 3.
You have 71.83% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
